New generation of HD Controllers

[soundtracker]

What's available on the market at the moment to replace Cortex/D2/HD 2500, looking to control a hard drive rather than have to buy a lap-top software etc.

[Corabar Steve]

There was rumour of a HD2500 mkII, but that hasn't materialised yet.

[Excalibur]

There was rumour of a HD2500 mkII, but that hasn't materialised yet.

Good heavens! I know you're closer to the source than I am, but I'd have said that although Denon were the likeliest to bring out something new along those lines, that possibility was still very very remote.

Pete, I reckon you're going to have to bite the bullet, and join the ranks of us Laptop DJ's. Come on in, the water's lovely.

[Gary]

yet.

That's a lovely word. I like it a lot.

This year, there has just been the release in the last week or two of the Denon DN-D4500 mk2. Rather that a media player, It's more a bombproof/bulletproof rackmount 19inch dual CD-deck with 3 USB ports (one on the controller, one on the front of the drawer units and one on the back) for hard drives, pen drives, thumb drives and, of course those CDs that brides and birthday girls and boys hand you, or the CDs you play yourself after someone's tipped a beer over your external hard drives.

It could be the ideal thing for some users, especially those who'd rather not have a lappy as their central brain of music playback (a concern of some DJs, already addressed by Denon "Engine" software but currently no 19" rack mount players are compatible with "Engine")

...currently.

[Excalibur]

with 3 USB ports (one on the controller, one on the front of the drawer units and one on the back) for hard drives, pen drives, thumb drives and, of course those CDs that brides and birthday girls and boys hand you, or the CDs you play yourself after someone's tipped a beer over your external hard drives.

It could be the ideal thing for some users, especially those who'd rather not have a lappy as their central brain of music playback (a concern of some DJs, already addressed by Denon "Engine" software but currently no 19" rack mount players are compatible with "Engine")
.

Hmm. Now which other piece of kit answering that description do we know*? ( OK, so one of the CD drawers is in fact a Hard Drive caddy, but that's even better )
Nice to see Denon eventually nearly catching up with the rest of the field there, it's only taken them five years to get their controllers to work with what Cortex and Numark have no problems with.

*Here's a big clue.

Gary, you build a four channel laptop controller with two mic inputs like the MC6000, bolt a hard drive controller on the back, take off all the bells and whistles, and watch 'em fly out of the door. Put me down for the first one.

[djdj]

I think denon missed a trick not includind a USB slot on the MC6000!!!

[Shaun]

That's a lovely word. I like it a lot.

This year, there has just been the release in the last week or two of the Denon DN-D4500 mk2. Rather that a media player, It's more a bombproof/bulletproof rackmount 19inch dual CD-deck with 3 USB ports (one on the controller, one on the front of the drawer units and one on the back) for hard drives, pen drives, thumb drives and, of course those CDs that brides and birthday girls and boys hand you, or the CDs you play yourself after someone's tipped a beer over your external hard drives.

It could be the ideal thing for some users, especially those who'd rather not have a lappy as their central brain of music playback (a concern of some DJs, already addressed by Denon "Engine" software but currently no 19" rack mount players are compatible with "Engine")

...currently.

Interesting, but as a DJ that has fully moved away from CD, or offering the facility to play CDs this is definitely a huge step backwards. I do hope that Denon release another standalone media player such as a hd2500 mk2. I neither want to go down the route of adding cd drawers or having to go the laptop route. Having been tempted down the digital route by Denon with their HD250 I now feel like I've been left in limbo with no future products to suit my requirements.

[Gary]

Hmm. Now which other piece of kit answering that description do we know*?

You and a D2/DDS-80 need to get a room. In the meantime, heres three more opportunities for you to recall the D2:

1) A Passing squirrel (ah yes...about the same height (when asleep) as a d2, you might say)
2) Clouds (that one up there looks just like a d2, you might say)
3) The angle created by a knife and fork not put perfectly together on the empty plate at the end of a meal. (reminds me of the d2 too, you might say)

Heres 3 more for you, off you go...Yoghurt, Asbestos, Pedal Bin Liners.....I'm sure there's a D2 colaboration with each - and you're possibly the only person to be able to find them.

Heres a link that you and a d2 might find useful [URL="http://http://www.getaroom.com/?ce_cid=00ev6x6EXVo51vGYTs5HJkv7.p000000&utm_campa ign=Affiliate&utm_medium=cpa&utm_source=adsmarket. com"[/URL]

take off all the bells and whistles

Now theres an interesting thing - some peoples bells and whistles (The "I'll never use those features, so why should I pay for them" items, generally tend to be someone elses "Must have; essentials. Cant buy it unless its got them") Some of the features that you've mentioned would put you first in the queue would certainly be classed by -some- others as "never use, why pay for those whistles and bells"

I'm sure that many would recognise the same dilema in other (non-DJ) product ranges too - its certainly not exclusive to DJ equipment - one solution is for a manufacturer to bring out different models. Each model catering for a particular group of like-minded, same feature-requiring consumers...that model does what that group needs it to do, is very well built, but doesnt do feature C, E, M,N, or L. A unit that ticks everybodies box at the same time just doesnt exist - yes, of course a unit could be made that included all features from A-Z but it could then fall over at the pricing stage. Eg: Does everything but...its £4000 compared to £600

I think denon missed a trick not includind a USB slot on the MC6000!!!

It's got a usb slot - but i suspect that you meant that it should have a way of playing back MP3/wav files without a lappy plugged in... so I wont leave you with the "It's got a USB slot" answer... The fuller answer might be that for a device to be really useful in playing back tunes from a USB device/pen drive/hard drive, there needs to be a display, so you can see what tracks you've got, and what tracks you're choosing etc - and the MC6000, being primarily a midi controller (with a true audio mixer) would nearly always have been connected to a lappy and DJ software, so has no display. I'd certainly agree with anyone who suggested that theres a number of individuals who dont want a lappy acting as the brain of their music playback solution though - as well as a number who are happy with a lappy.

in limbo with no future products to suit my requirements.

Its fairer to say (perhaps) that there may be no current products which suit your requirements. And yes, I totally understand your situation of not wanting to go into what some see as a playback route that they dont want to dabble with eg: Lappy, optimising etc.

Now in terms of the DN-D4500 Mk2...it is exactly that - its the mk2 of the workhorse that was, and for many still is, the DN-D4500 dual CD deck, its not intended as a/the/any DN-HD2500 Mk2.

[Shaun]

Its fairer to say (perhaps) that there may be no current products which suit your requirements. .

I'll keep my fingers crossed for the future then.

I've often wondered why Denon discontinued the HD2500. From the various forums (both here in the UK and in the US) it appeared to be very popular with the mobile DJs.

[funkymook]

You and a D2/DDS-80 need to get a room. In the meantime, heres three more opportunities for you to recall the D2:

1) A Passing squirrel (ah yes...about the same height (when asleep) as a d2, you might say)
2) Clouds (that one up there looks just like a d2, you might say)
3) The angle created by a knife and fork not put perfectly together on the empty plate at the end of a meal. (reminds me of the d2 too, you might say)

Heres 3 more for you, off you go...Yoghurt, Asbestos, Pedal Bin Liners.....I'm sure there's a D2 colaboration with each - and you're possibly the only person to be able to find them.

Heres a link that you and a d2 might find useful [URL="http://http://www.getaroom.com/?ce_cid=00ev6x6EXVo51vGYTs5HJkv7.p000000&utm_campa ign=Affiliate&utm_medium=cpa&utm_source=adsmarket. com"[/URL]

That level of sarcasm is usually best tempered with a smiley or two , unless of course you wished to come across the way you did